Steal This Look: A Star London Chef's Kitchen

Michelin-starred London chef Skye Gyngell presides over one of the city's most ethereally beautiful new restaurants, Spring at Somerset House . At home, her approach to design is equally winning. She recently gave us a tour of her remodeled West London kitchen , which salutes classic English detailing while taking the look in a soulful direction. Here's how to re-create her approach.
Gyngell's kitchen photography by Alexis Hamilton for British Standard .
Above: In Gyngell's two-toned kitchen, everything under the counter is dark and above is light. The counters and backsplash are Carrara marble.
Above: British Standard , the affordable offshoot of Plain English, supplied the cabinets. (Read about British Standard in A Kitchen for the People, Courtesy of Prince Charles .) Like the idea of integrating art into the kitchen? We do—see The New Art Gallery: Paintings in the Kitchen .
Above: Set on the ground floor of a terraced house, the room has window seating at one end and a bank of tall white cabinets that provide ample storage. For a rustic note, Gyngell preserved the battered original floors.
The Basics
Above: The Deck-Mounted Goose-Neck Faucet with Crosshead Handles is from Perrin & Row; £328 ($501) in chrome, marked down from £386 ($590); also available in nickel, pewter, and gold finishes.
Above: Gyngell selected an inset double copper sink because she likes the way the metal looks against the marble and dark cabinets; copper also has antimicrobial properties. A Double Bowl Copper Kitchen Sink is £998.87 ($1,523.73) from the Copperstore .
Above: The stove is a Mercury 1000 Range Cooker , which comes in eight finishes, including Liquorice (shown here); Gyngell opted for the stainless steel. Mercury is an offshoot of Aga and also makes the companion streamlined Extraction Hood shown in the first photo.
Materials, Cabinets, and Hardware
Above: Considering splurging on marble in your own kitchen? See Remodeling 101: Marble Countertop Pros and Cons , and read Michelle's cautionary tale, My Dirty Secret: How I Learned to Live with a Marble Backsplash .
Above: British Standard offers a range of cupboards in standard sizes that are made by hand in a workshop in Suffolk, England. They can be ordered online, but the buyer needs to arrange for pickup and delivery.
Above: Gyngell's leather cabinet pulls are custom-made for Plain English by Turnstyle Designs in the UK. Spinneybeck offers a similar belting leather pull with a water-resistant finish. The Small Sling Pull , shown here (5 1/2 by 7/8 inches), is $15 and comes in 26 colors. For more ideas, see 10 Easy Pieces: Leather Cabinet Pulls and Handles and Made Measure Takes Leather Cabinet Pulls One Step Further .
Above: Sugatsune Stainless Steel Edge Pulls are $26.56 each via Amazon. For a more affordable alternative, read Izabella's Remodeling 101 post : How Kitchen Edge Pulls Changed My Life .
Above: The lower cabinets are painted in Farrow & Ball's Hague Blue , a shade that in different lights ranges from warm black to navy; $105 per gallon.
Task Lighting
Above: The classic British Bestlite Wall Light BL6 Wall , with a swivel arm and pivoting shade of powder-coated steel, comes in ivory (shown), white, and black; $380 from Apbeam. See Julie's post on Sconces in the Kitchen for more ideas.
The Accessories
Above: A 12-by-8-inch Wood & Leather Serving Board is $100 from TRNK. Larger sizes also available.
Above: Turnco's 64-ounce Glass Storage Jar with Walnut Lid (left) is $57.95 CAD ($49.33 USD) from the Old Faithful Shop (the smaller size is currently sold out).
Above: Simon Pearce's Black Granite Mortar & Pestle is currently on sale for $50, marked down from $100.
Above: The Sophie Conran for Portmeirion Mixing Bowl in White is $35.99 from Replacements.
Above: French all-linen Striped Dish Towels are $19.95 each from Flotsam + Fork.
Above: The Astier de Villatte Small Adelaide Salad Bowl of black terracotta with the company's signature milky glaze is $140 at ABC Carpet & Home.
Above: The small Ruffoni Copper Sauce Pan is handmade in Italy and holds 19.5 ounces; $118 from Anthropologie, wooden spoon included. For vintage copper stockpots and other cookware in a range of shapes and sizes, take a look at Four & Twenty .
Above: Pigeon Toe Ceramics Utility Spoon Rest is hand-thrown porcelain with a clear gloss; $22.
Above: An Ikea classic, the enamelware Sockerärt Vase comes in three sizes, starting at $9.99. And, yes, it also works well as a pitcher.
Above: An all-purpose goblet, the French Clear-Footed Glass is $11 from Nineteen Mercier Home.
Above: Hand-Eye Supply Aprons are stitched in LA of American-made denim; $42.
Above: Handwoven from English bulrush, the Rush Matters Bread Basket is $128 at March in SF. Read our ode to woven rush on page 307 of the Remodelista book .
Above: Skye keeps her herbs on her counter in a Jet Black Gluggle Jug , a late-19th-century design famous for the gurgling sound it makes when poured. The large size is £29.50 from the Gluggle Shop, which only ships in the UK. In the US, Shreve Crump & Low offers a similar but more refined Gurgling Cod (shown here) in a range of colors; the large size is $95.
Embarking on a kitchen update? Get ideas from our Steal This Look posts, including:
A Minimalist English Kitchen
A Scandi-Meets-Japanese Kitchen
A Kitchen Designed for Entertaining
A Beadboard-Paneled East Hampton Kitchen
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